Pizza Margherita
I felt like I had to include probably the most beloved of all Italian foods in this week long foray into my Italian roots, pizza. I can probably count on one hand the number of times my Mother made pizza growing up, that few really. I learned to love and appreciate pizza when I lived in Italy and this is very close to what I had there. I used The Solitary Cooks recipe for pizza dough, slathered on some of my tomato balsamic jam, some fresh mozzarella and grated pecorino romano and here you have it. Pizza Margherita. The pizza dough rested all night in the refrigerator and was ready for me this morning. You must try this recipe for pizza dough, not only is it simple and quick to make it’s so tender and well, sheer perfection. Here is the link to the recipe, http://thesolitarycook.wordpress.com/2012/01/27/weekend-pizza/
It’s so easy to go to the pizzeria or restaurant and get a pizza to go, but if you have the urge for pizza try this. It really is foolproof and quick. Go to the links above for the recipe’s for the pizza dough and tomato balsamic jam. You can make a more traditional pizza sauce or buy a good one in the market whatever works for you. Add whatever toppings you like, let your imagination go wild, pizza is one of those foods that can become whatever you want it to be.
A thing of beauty
apuginthekitchen 
That’s a prize-winning pizza!
Thank you and I mean THANK YOU, without your fab recipe for dough it would not be this good! It really tastes as good as it looks.
I was going to say the same thing….”looks like a winning pizza to me”!! Love thesolitarycook’s pizza dough using the cake flour, I’ve made it twice already. AND…with your tomato jam, WOW!
Thank you, it turned out really nice, It was my first time using her recipe. So delicious!
I’m a native New Yorker too, originally from Queens and of Italian descent. I live in Indianapolis and there is no place here that I’ve found that makes a good pizza so make sure you appreciate the pizza places you have there!!!! I have made many pizzas from many recipes and the crusts were just never up to par for me. Yours in the photo looks pretty darn good however! I will give it a try. I like a chewy crust with a somewhat blackened bottom and big bubbles on the edges with the olive oil dripping down my arm when I fold the slice in half lol, if you get my drift. Oh, how I miss NYC pizza. Or, even my grandmother’s pizza which was nothing to sneeze at either!
Good brick oven pizza is absolutely the best, there are a few places around me that have exceptional pizza. This recipe makes a chewy crust, not dry at all. I bake mine on a cast iron pizza pan but i think a stone would yield and even better crust, blackened (love that too!) I generally like my dough on the thinish side so I can make two pizza’s from the recipe spreading it pretty thin. It’s the easiest recipe ever, no kneading required and I let it rise in the fridge which actually make the dough even better.. Hope you give it a try and let me know how you like it.
Yes, I use a stone. I will definitely give this a try. I’ve never put honey in my pizza crust so that will be a new twist. Marianne Esposito (Italian chef on PBS) uses honey in her pizza. She also started using pizza yeast. I haven’t seen it in my supermarket yet. She says its very easy to spread out the dough. I will let you know how it turns out.
I have never used honey in pizza dough before but have in breads and it works very nicely, next time I make it I should give it a try. I have never heard of pizza yeast, I get my yeast from King Arthur, I like instant yeast and I get a pretty sizable bag that lasts me for a while. Good luck I hope you like!